Dispensing container for dusts



. 19, 1950 A. c. KEYL msrsnsmc CONTAINER FOR nusws' v INVENTQR.

BY 3 v 7 Attorneys.

I II'IIIIIIJII.

Patented Sept. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PAT EN T O FF I CE I 2,522,621DISPENSING GQNTAINER FonnUs'rs; Alexander Ken; Cleveland; Ohio, assignorto" The Sherwin-Williams Company; Cleveland, Ohio, a; corporation ofOhio: Application October 1, 1946, Scrial:No.-700,461.

This invention relates to dispensing containers for dusts, and, moreparticularly, elongated tubular containers for packaging and dispensinginsecticidal, fungicidal and like agricultural dusts for use on plants(hereinafter referred to simply as dusts). I

It has been common practice for many years to package dusts in a tubularcontainer provided at the discharge end with a closurehaving a'suitableorifice o-r orifices through which the packaged dust, dispersed in air,is discharged. At the other or pressure end, the tubular container isprovided with a closure having an opening, which permits the dischargingand dispersing air to be forced into'the tubular dust container; saidopening may be either covered with a looselywoven fabric filter orprovided With a suitable check valve which permits the passage of airinto the container and inhibits the escape of dust throughthe opening.At the pressure end such containers are provided with a slidable,closelyfitting sleeve having a ported closure carryinga flap type ofcheck valve which permits air to be drawninto a pressure chamber createdwhen the sleeve is withdrawn but preventing a substantial escape of airwhen the withdrawn sleeve is telescoped upon the tubular container.Thus, by reciprocating the sleeve on the container, airwould betheoretically pumped through the container to discharge dust in a finelydispersed spray through the discharge orifices.

The-difliculiw with theabove described dispensing containers is thatthey cannot be fullyfilled with dust and they must be held, whenoperated, in'a substantially horizontal position so that the bodyoidustdoes not coverthe discharge orifices;

otherwise the dust packs in the container and over the orifices,preventing any discharge or at least causing too much dust to bedischarged in an undispersed condition. The very geometry of the levelassumed by the dust during uselimited themaxi'mum length of the tubularcontainers to three or possibly four times the diameter. This, in turn,limited the amount of'dust which could be'pac'kaged in such containersto about a pound or so of dust; otherwise'the diameter of the containerbecame so large that the package was cumbersome and unwieldy.Consequentlygthe user was not able to buy the more economical largeramounts of dust in such dispensing containers. Another disadvantage ofthe short prior art-contalners of the type described was thatt'he'userhad to stoop or squat to spray dust on small plants or'lowerleaves.

To minimize the effect of the dusts packing in 2 the described prior artcontainers and to improve dispersion; it. has been proposed to includein the container a, tube extending, from near the opening in thepressure end to or adjacent the discharge orifices; Such tubes might ormight not be providedwith vents which would theoretically either permitdust to be entrained into the tube or permit: air to be forced into themass of dust to preventit from packing. In most instances the tubes didincrease the dispersion of the'dust but when the length of the containerexceeded its diameter by much more than three times orthe' container washeld at an angle which allowed: the dust to coverthe discharge orificesto an appreciable depth, the dust would still pack, due, presumably,tothe depth" of dust over the discharge: orifice and/or the effect ofthe air pressurejin the container.

It' is the object of this invention. to provide a dust dispensingcontainer inwhich the dust will not pack and prevent discharge,regardless of the angle at'wliichthe container is held durin oper ationlIt' is another object of this invention to provide adust-dispensingcontainer in which the 'length-rof'thecontainer may exceed four or fivetimes the" diameter. In'fact', in'thecommercial embodiment: of myinvention now being used, the container is two and a half inches indiameter and thirty six inches longj-a ratio of length to diameter ofl4t-o 1'.

A particular advantage of a container made according torny inventionisthat,.with a diameterrwhichgpermits the container to be. conveniently'gripped in. one hand, the container may be made' long enough to allowthe userto dust small plants and'lowleaves -without stooping orsquatting. Another advantage of my container is that it permits amoreeconomical packaging of dusts in a dispensing, container, d'ue'not onlyto they 'made according to my invention and showing it at anangle nearvertical at which it may be held and operated;

Fig. 2is a cross section taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1 and showingdust packaged in the container.

Fig. 3 is a detailed fragmentary longitudinal section taken at the loweror discharge end.

Fig. 4 is a detailed fragmentary longitudinal section taken at the upperor pressure end.

Fig. 5 is a detailed fragmentary longitudinal section showing aflap-type of check valve which may be used instead of the filter shownin Fig. 4.

In general, except for the dispersing element employed and greatlyincreased length (relative to the diameter) the preferred embodiment ofmy invention as shown in the drawings is substantially the same asdust-dispensing tubular containers well known to the art. That is, thecontainer is comprised of an elongated tube l0, preferably made ofspirally wound cardboard tubing or similar inexpensive tubing having therequired strength and rigidity.

The discharge end of the tube H1, in which the dust to be dispensed ispackaged, isclosed by a suitable closure having discharge orifices; inthis instance, the closure is comprised of an internally flanged metalrim ll crimped to the end of the tube [0 and a removable metal cap I2tightly and frictionally held by the rim I0. A group of nar row slits orsmall holes l5 in the cap 12 and located eccentrically thereof providethe discharge orifices through which the packaged dust and air aredischarged in a spray jet, as indicated in Fig. 1. The orifices [5 areusually indicated by depressions in the cap 12 and are usually cut orpunched by the user after purchase and just prior to first use.Frequently, however, I prefer to punch the orifices I5 in the cap l2prior to filling and closing the tube id; in such instances, theorifices 15 are sealed for shipping and storage with a patch of adhesivepaper or a similar removable seal. It is to be understood that in eithercase the tube of the embodiment disclosed is first filled, by means ofsuitable filling equipment, through the open discharge end of the tubeprior to closing with the cap 12. The crosssectional area of the tube 10occupied by the packaged dust is indicated by the stippled area in Fig.2.

The pressure end of the tube I0 is closed with a cap l6 having anopening l1 covered by a patch of loosely woven cloth or like filtermaterial l8 which will permit air to pass through the filter but whichwill entrap most of the dust which might otherwise escape from the tubel0 through the opening [1. As indicated in Fig. 5, the cap and filterclosure may be replaced by a crimped,

metal closure I I6 having an opening I I! normally closed by a flapvalve N8 of paper or like flexible material stapled to the closure 1 l6; when air is being forced into the tube ID, the flap I I8 will bend tothe dotted line position shown, uncovering the opening I I1.

As indicated in Fig. l, the outer diameter of the tube I0 is preferablyreduced adjacent the pressure end to receive the telescoping sleeve 20.The package is sold with its elements in the normal inoperative fullytelescoped position, in which the tube [0 and sleeve appear to be acontinuous tube. The end of the sleeve 20 is provided with a crimpedmetal closure 2| having a port normally covered by a flap-valve 23operating in a manner similar to the above described flap valve H8. Itis to be understood that the flap valves H8 and 23 are merelyillustrative of the flap or check valve structures which may be used topermit one-way movement of air toward the discharge end of the tubularcontainer I0 through the closures l6 and 2|.

To operate the dispensing container, the tube I0 is grasped in one handthe sleeve 20 is drawn back, creating a pressure chamber 24 into whichair is drawn through the port 22 and opened check valve 23. The sleeve20 is then telescoped on the tube [0, closing the check valve 23 andforcing air through the opening I! and discharging dust dispersed in airthrough the orifices l5 toward the plant or leaves at which thedischarge end of the container is aimed. The container is so operated asdesired until the packaged dust is exhausted, when the container isdiscarded.

But for the fact that none of the prior art dust dispensing containerswould continue to operate successfully at the angle shown in Fig. 1 andfew would operate at any angle with a tube as proportionately long asthe tube lo, the above described construction and operation is wellknown in the art. The operativeness of my container is due to theinternal dust dispersing element 30 extending from adjacent the pressureend of the tube It] to a point adjacent the discharge end. The dustdispersing element 30 is comprised of a number of long, relatively smallair conduits 3|. The group of long small tubes occupies approximately athird of the cross-sectional area of the tube In, the discharge ends ofthe conduits being located adjacent to and directed towards thedischarge orifices [5. As shown in the drawings, the internal dispersingelement is preferably comprised of a plurality of plies of ordinarycorrugated paper board stock in which the corrugations extend lengthwiseof the tube It to provide the plurality of conduits 3!. As shown in Fig.2, the plies of corrugated paper board stock have a width slightlygreater than the diameter of the tube In so that the plies arefrictionally held in alignment with the discharge orifices [5. As shownin Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the ends of the paper board plies are providedwith small longitudinal tabs 32 to space the ends of the conduits 3!from the closures at the ends of the tube 10.

The element 30 permits the operation of the dispensing container of thetype described at substantially any angle, including the vertical, andwith dust-containing tubes greatly in excess of three or four times thediameter. The length of the tube I0, relative to its diameter, appearsto be limited only to length of tube and weight of contents which can beconveniently handled by the user. As explained above, tub-es three feetlong and having a ratio of length to diameter of 14 to 1 are in use.

The advantages of long dispensing containers of the type disclosedshould be readily apparent. With a tube three feet long, the user candust low plants or leaves without stooping or squatting and can use thedischarge end of the tube to turn up low leaves and dust the undersidesthereof while operating the container. Heretofore such dusting withoutstooping could be accomplished only with expensive mechanical dustingequipment which required the inconvenient loadin of bulk quantities ofdust. It is also possible to package as much dust in one of mydispensing containers as could be packaged in several of the short priorart dispensing containers, thereby reducing the packaging cost per poundof dust packaged and allowing the user to buy the more economical largequantities of dust in a dispensing container.

Why my element 30 renders the container operative under conditions wherethe single relative large internal dispersing tubes of the prior artwould be inoperative is not understood. One

,5 theory advanced is that the conduits 3! are so small in diameter thatthe normal pressure effected by operation of the sleeve 20 causes thedischarge air forced through the conduits 3! to assume turbulent flowrather than the sinuous or viscous flow which would obtain in a singletube of equal cross-sectional area. Thus, the air discharged adjacentthe orifices I5 would be in a more turbulent condition and would erodeaway any packed dust adjacent the orifices I5. Another theory advancedis that even if a flap valve H8 is employed at the pressure end of thetube l0 rather than the filter [8, such valves are not efficient enoughto prevent the negative pressure created in the pressure chamber 24 fromalso being created inside the tube Ill, and since the small conduits 3|offer a frictional resistance to air flow through them, the airentrapped in the entire mass of dust in the tube H3 is subjected tointermittent negative pressure, thus persed by the jets of airdischarged by the con- .3:

duits 3|.

Regardless of whether my container operates for any one or all of theforegoing reasons or for some other reason, it is to be understood thatthis invention is not to be limited to any given theory of operation orto the specific embodiment disclosed. Rather, those skilled in the artwill find that my invention may be varied and modified within the scopeof the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dust dispensing container, in combination with a dust containingtube, a closure at one end having a discharge outlet, a closure at theother end having an opening permitting air to be forced into said tubeand a valved sleeve over said other end reciprocable to pump air intosaid tube, an internal dust dispersing element comprised of a pluralitof relativel small conduits extending lengthwise of said tube from a.point adjacent said discharge outlet to a point adjacent said opening,the total cross-sectional area of said dust-dispersing element beinggreater than the area of said outlet, said element being located withrespect to said outlet so that the iii) outlet will lie substantiallywithin the projected cross-sectional area of said element.

2. A dust dispensing container as defined in claim 1 in which saiddischarge outlet is comprised of a plurality of orifices and includingmeans to space the adjacent end of said dust-dispersing element fromsaid orifices.

3. A dust dispensing container as defined in claim 1 in which said tubeis a long tube having a length exceeding four times its diameter andsaid dust-dispersing element is comprised of corrugated paper board inwhich the corrugations extend lengthwise of the tube to provide theplurality of small conduits.

4. In a dust dispensing container, a dust containing tube of spirallywound paper stock, a closure at one end of said tube having a pluralityof discharge orifices grouped eccentrically thereof, a second closure atthe other end of said tube, and an internal dust-dispersing elementcomprised of a plurality of plies of corrugated paper board extendinglengthwise of said tube from a point adjacent said orifices to a pointadjacent said second closure, the corrugations of said paper boardextending lengthwise of said tube to provide a pluralit of smallconduits, said element having a total cross-sectional area greater thanthe area of the group of orifies and being held within said tube so thatsaid orifices will fall substantially within the projectedcross-sectional area of said element.

5. In a dust dispensing container as defined in claim l, in which saidsecond closure is provided with an opening, means permitting air to beforced into said tube through said opening but inhibiting the escape ofdust from within said tube, means to space said dust-dispersing elementfrom said orifices and said opening, and means to pump air through saidopening.

6. A dust dispensing container as defined in claim 4 in which the ratioof the length of said tube to its diameter exceeds four to one.

ALEXANDER c. KEYL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,777,278 Huntington Sept. 30,1930 2,035,398 Muller Mar. 24, 1936 2,122,230 Rutkowski June 28, 19382,156,268 Rose May 2, 1939

